TY - JOUR T1 - Erdosteine oral treatment of hospitalised COPD exacerbation prolongs time to first re-exacerbation JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 44 IS - Suppl 58 SP - P293 AU - Maurizio Moretti Y1 - 2014/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/P293.abstract N2 - IntroductionPatients hospitalised for acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) are at high-risk for recurrence within 8 weeks after the initial exacerbation.ObjectiveThis study evaluated the effect of erdosteine, an anti-oxidant mucolytic agent with antiadhesive bacterial properties, given to hospitalised AECOPD patients on the prevention of exacerbation.MethodsForty hospitalised COPD patients randomly received erdosteine (E) 900 mg daily or placebo (P) for 10 days plus standard treatment. Timing of first exacerbation after hospital discharge was assessed at 30 and 60 days. Data were correlated to FEV1%pred and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) measured at 10 and 30 days after hospitalisation.Time-to-event analyses were performed with the use of the log-rank test; Cox regression analysis was used to estimate hazard ratios with 95% CI for three predictors of re-exacerbations, adjusted for each other.ResultsRe-exacerbations occurred in 25% of patients. (E) was associated with a faster decrease of CRP concentration (p<0.05 vs placebo at 10 days) and improvement of FEV1%pred at 10 (p<0.01) and 30 days; (E) was associated with a reduction of risk of exacerbation of 39.1% and a significant delay in time to first exacerbation (Log-rank test p=0.009 a 30 days and Log-rank test p=0.065 at 60 days) compared to P. CRP concentration at 30 days had a significant impact on 60 days exacerbation rate (hazard ratio 27.5, 95% CI = 4.27-176.8, p<0.001).ConclusionsErdosteine given to hospitalised patients with AECOPD shows a protective effect by delaying and reducing re-exacerbations. ER -